Michigan Wolverines basketball's comeback attempt fell short against Ohio State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, with the squad losing 68-67 to its arch rival. The Buckeyes have now advanced to the championship game and await the winner of Illinois-Iowa.
Injuries were a top storyline in the game. Michigan was without senior forward Isaiah Livers (stress injury in right foot), the team's second leading scorer at 13.1 points per game, and Ohio State did not have senior forward Kyle Young, who suffered a concussion in the quarterfinals against Purdue.
Below is a recap of how the game unfolded.
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First Half
Just after Ohio State junior guard Duane Washington Jr. made a layup on the Buckeyes' second offensive possession to get the scoring started, Michigan freshman center Hunter Dickinson took a shot from the left block and came up holding his hand. He left the game and was replaced by fifth-year senior forward Austin Davis, who came in and scored on the low post right after entering.
Ohio State got off to an 8-5 lead after a three by junior forward Justin Ahrens, but two free throws by U-M fifth-year senior guard Mike Smith made it 8-7 at the 16:63 mark. OSU made just three of its first 10 shots, but two of them were threes — and that was the difference early. U-M hit two of its first 10 looks through the first four minutes.
A triple right out of the timeout by OSU redshirt junior forward Justice Sueing gave the Buckeyes an 11-7 lead, their largest at that point, with 14:40 to go.
The Wolverines came firing back with four points of their own to tie it up at 11-11, highlighted by junior forward Brandon Johns Jr., who was making his first start of the season and 12th for his career, grabbing a loose ball and finding senior guard Eli Brooks for a layup to knot things up with 12:48 to play in the half.
U-M went on a 7-0 run after getting down 14-11 — capped off by a three from the top of the key by sophomore wing Franz Wagner — and took an 18-14 lead. But Washington's left-corner three at the 9:02 mark cut the Buckeyes within one, 18-17.
OSU freshman forward Zed Key grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in with a layup to give his team a 21-18 lead at the 4:57 mark, before two free throws by Wagner pulled the Wolverines within one, 21-20.
Wagner's second steal of the game led to a U-M possession in which Brooks laid it in to take a one-point edge, 22-21 at 4:06.
Neither team scored for over two minutes, until Johns nailed two free throws at 1:58, and then knocked down one of two from the charity stripe with 1:24 to go. U-M had a 25-21 lead, before OSU sophomore forward E.J. Liddell made a layup to get back within two.
Johns was fouled again and drained both free throws, giving U-M a 27-23 edge with just under a minute until the break. OSU fifth-year senior forward Seth Towns then answered with a triple from the right corner to get it back to 27-26, U-M with a one-point advantage.
27-26 remained the score at halftime, with the Wolverines, despite shooting just 8-of-27 from the field, had the lead heading into the locker room. OSU was 10-of-33 shooting at the break. Wagner led all scorers with eight points, and he also added three rebounds, one assist, two blocks and two steals.
Second Half
Washington hit a left-corner three on the first possession of the half, which gave OSU a 29-27 lead, before Dickinson made a layup off a feed from Wagner to tie it back up at 29-29.
OSU led 33-31 with 16 minutes to go. The two teams were a combined 3-of-9 shooting in to start the second half (U-M was 1-of-6).
Liddell nailed a three right out of the timeout to give OSU its largest lead to that point, 36-31. But the Wolverines came charging back, with a Dickinson two and a Smith three at 14:49 tying the game back up at 36-36.
The Wolverines counterpunched some OSU momentum and went on a 7-0 run themselves to take a 43-42 lead behind a Davis layup at the 11:40 mark.
Washington nailed a three right out of the timeout to surge the Buckeyes back ahead, taking a 45-43 edge. Then, Liddell was able to extend the lead by hitting a short jumper from the paint and the foul. He knocked down the free throw, making it 48-43, Buckeyes, at the 10:21 mark.
An and-one by OSU redshirt junior guard C.J. Walker at 9:06 gave the Buckeyes a 53-43 edge. After two brooks free throws, another three from Washington at 8:53 put OSU up 11, 56-45, its largest lead of the game.
Wagner fouled out with 5:17 to go while hacking Sueing, whose shot went in for the and-one. The Buckeyes led, 62-50, after the made free throw.
OSU had a 65-56 lead after Dickinson scored an and-one layup to keep U-M's hopes of a comeback alive for the time being.
The Wolverines had pulled within six, 68-62, highlighted by a Dickinson put-back layup with 1:38 to play. U-M head coach Juwan Howard called timeout before the defensive possession to get his defense set — which paid off. Dickinson pressured Liddell and was able to get the on-ball steal in the backcourt, before laying it in to make it 68-64 with 1:29 to go.
After a defensive stop, the Wolverines got senior guard Chaundee Brown, who was 0-of-5 shooting at that point, open from the top of the key. The sixth time was a charm for Brown, who drained the look to make it 68-67, Ohio State, at the 47-second mark.
Walker stepped out of bounds on the baseline on OSU's possession, turning it over to the Wolverines, who were able to hold for last shot. Even though he had Dickinson down low with a guard on him, Smith took a three just before the buzzer sounded, but it was way off.
The final score was 68-67, with OSU coming out on top. The Buckeyes shot 12-of-22 from long range. Lidell (18 points) and Washington (24) combined for 42 of OSU's 68 and were the difference-makers.
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